Pros
From personal experience: GEA Process Engineering Inc. (formerly Niro Inc.) has a decent benefits package with health care, company matching 2x salary life insurance, and vacation which increases over time with the company. Most people have their own office with cubicles mainly for CAD personnel. Technology is excellent with up-to-date computing equipment, cell phones, and peripherals. Support from IT to keep all tech items operational is outstanding and amazingly fast compared to past employers. Overall people are friendly with many clicking and gathering outside of work to develop friendships.
Cons
From personal experience: Locally we deal with a clueless HR staff who has a closed door more often than an open door - both literally and figuratively. There is more focus on those who directly "sell" to the customer and less on those who support them making the ability to sell and engineer systems possible. If you are salaried and not in sales or direct customer support there is no comp time. So much is undocumented such as who does or does not qualify for bonuses. Watch out for managers who simply don't like someone since without accountability they can and often do make life miserable for an employee they simply don't like. The opportunities for promotion are scarce and generally not encouraged unless upper management approaches you first. As of 12/1/2015 GEA is outsourcing their global IT operations to Manila, Philippines and Bucharest, Romania. The days of proactive and responsive support for IT issues is now past. For support we must contact a foreign helpdesk who cannot support or numerous legacy systems. When my laptop failed before it was usually repaired within a day. Now repair is taking at least three days with no guarantee that it won't be longer. Several people have been laid off recently and several more have resigned for jobs elsewhere. The headcount at our location has dropped from 175 to less than 150 with several more positions already slated and documented for layoff in March 2016 and June 2016.
